Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-08-19

began. a band OF miscreants heartless
and with only criminal instincts was on
hand, and like the guerrillas who throng 4
battle field the night after conflict and
fitch from the dead the money which they
received for their meager pay. stealing even
/ the bronze medals, and robbing from the
children Of the heroes, and other worthless
emblems Of their fathers bravery, GO last
night did the human hyenas plumber the
dead from this terrible accident, and
take even the shoes which covered their feet
Who these wretches are is not known.
Whether they were q band of pickpockets
who accompanied the train, or some
robber gang who were lurking in the vicin-
ity cannot be said. The horrible suspicion
exists. and there are many who give it cred
ence. that the accident was q deliberately
planned case Of train wrecking, that the
bridge was set on fire by miscreants who
hoped to seize the opportunity offered, and
the fact that, the bridge was SO far consumed
at the time the Train came along, and the
added fact that the train was an hour and
half late, are pointed ont as evidence of
careful conspiracy. It seems hardly possible
that man could be so lost to all the ordinary
feelings which animates the basest OF the
human race, but still men who viii rob dead
men; who will q
~. 81. STEAL FROM THE DYING
and will plumber the wounded, held down
by the broken beams of wrecked car,
whose death by fire seemed imminent,
can do most anything which is base,
and that 10 what these dends in human form
did They went into the cal: when the FIRE
was burning fercely underneath, and, when
fu1Vo
begged them For Gods sake" to help them
out, stripped them Of their watches and jew
elry and searched their pockets for money.
When the dead bodies were Laid out in
the corn fields these hyenas turned them over
in their search for valuables, and that the
plumber was done by an organized gang was
proven by the fact that this morning out in
the cornfield sixteen purses, all empty, were
found IN one heap. 1t was CHASTITY plunder-
ing, and had the plunderers been caught
this afternoon they would surely have been
lynched. There was one incident Of the ac-
cident which stood our more horrible than
all OF these horrible scenes In the second
coach were man, his wife and little child.
His name could not be learned to-day, but
it is said he cotton at Peoria When the ac-
cident occurred the entire family Of three
was caught and held dgwn by broken wood
work Finally when relief came the man
turned to the friendly aid aid feebly said:
sTake out my wife first; Pm afraid the child
Is dead" So they carried out the mother,
and a. q broken seat was taken OF
her crushed breast the blood which
welled from her lips told how badly
she was hurt. They carried the child-a
fair haired, blue eyed girl Of three land laid
her in the corn field dead, along side Of her
dying mother. Then they went buck for the
father and brought him ont Both his legs
were broken. but he crawled through the
corn to the side Of his wife and, feeling her
loved featnresi In the darkness. pressed some
brandy to her lips and asked her how she
felt Afeeble groad was Pr. -
+ TIE ONLY ANSWER .ae,...
and the next instant she died. The man felt
the forms of his dead wife and child and
cried out, @My God! there is nothing more
for me to live for now, ? and taking pistol
out Of his pocket, pulled the trigger The
bullet went surely through his brain. and the
three dead bodies of that little family are
now lying side by side in Chatsworth waiting
to be identified About o'clock the re-
porter was driven out i. to the
wreck The driveway . led along the
left Is of the 3 railroad and to
the south os Il the road was
an old fashioned Usage orange hedge, The
road was very muddy and full Of chuck holes
A stream Of humanity was pouring in from
the wreck. Some had checks in their hats
and carried valises. They were evidently
passengers on the Inflated train. Country
boys and girls came along swinging hands
and talking in low tones about the terrible
disaster. A photographer dragged his
weary limbs along the track. He
was carrying q camera and lot
Of negatives The roadbed was almost
level, just a little grade running up to the
wreck at raise Of ten or fifteen feet to the
mile. About two or three miles from the
town on q little raise was the debris Of the
wreck. The sleeping car eI'unfs" was at the
end Of the train. It was lacked in the air.
supported by the hestles. The front end of
the car was directly over the place where
the bridge stood. 70 the right lay . coach
all }s5 Azi VS. E: . 81. HI s t3S II
BROKEN INTO K1NDIMG WOOD,
and directly on the road was pied up what
was left OF six OF seven coaches, turned
bottom side up, and broken beyond recog-
milton. Across tho track In front Of the pile:
OF debris was coach lying crosswise, way:
mp at least ten feet Ia the air. Beyond were
the two tenders and one engine. One ten.
der was to the left Of the track and the
other to the right They were turned
bottom side up and rent assundeI. The engine.
was scarcely recognizable On the side
of the cab was the ill-starred number g Is.
Only q big pane Of glass marked SO On;
the hedge were hAts, shoes, and all manner
of wearing apparel, broken lanterns and
seats from the carr Il was an awful sight
.Hats Of men and women, broken and scared
with blood, coats reeking with gore. and
ladies' underwear smeared with life-fluid
TWAS plain to be seen from the looks Of the
baggage that the travellers were well-to-dos
people. There was f53S z#ss
3gs An INCIDENT
Ii the affair which was not only remarkable
ii its way, but shows how terribly these six
coaches were TANNED and mashsd together
When the accident occurred Andy Mooney
of Peoria and Conductor Stillweu, who was
noharge Of the train, were three cars from
each other. Mooney was ii the second car
and 6tdilwell in the fifth The next inAtant
they found themselves literally ID each
,others arms the oar ii which the conductor
5ras riding having been carried over the two
- 'front.' and dropped on top Of
the ono Whioh Mooney was g. The strange
part of u WAS neither man Was hurt The
moa horrtbls death 81 III was that Of En-
Rtnser cClintock ineer 81 the second en-
eins &c the double header Tho INST engine
|Whtch Engineef Sutherland wass diving
n "a oyer the burning bridge IN safety,
but Il Mas undar IL weight that the half
CO.. brid1s gays and the tender.